Does it ever feel like you’re just too busy to work? Or move forward with that dream project? Or spend time with your family or partner? Or exercise…?

Life happens. I get it.

I’ve been having one of those months myself:

We had houseguests. We packed up all of our worldly possessions and headed out on a cross-country move after a vacation week on the gorgeous, sunny coast of Maine.

Overlooking a schooner race in Portland, Maine

We worked on buying one house and selling another (in that order). I juggled restless nights with an ever-increasing belly. And perhaps the most upheaval of all: we air-freighted our fur-baby Skye off to Grandma’s so that she wouldn’t have to endure the road trip and dislocation. (She survived just fine and now is being pampered beyond belief.)

It’s been the kind of season where you’re so busy focusing on the urgent that it’s almost impossible to spend time on the important.

Deadlines get delayed, projects get scaled back, things get put on hold. It happens to the best of us, right? No shame.

So what’s the problem?

The problem arises when people try to burn the candle at both ends for too long and then burn out – or worse – they feel so upset over the difference between what they expect they should be doing and what they’re actually doing that they decide to stop completely.

You know, "I’ll just take a little hiatus until things settle down…"

But once you lose momentum, it can be really hard to resume.

Months go by. Sometimes, years.

And there’s not a lot of incentive to start up again, because last time it wasn’t sustainable. Why invest the time and then deal with feelings of inadequacy and disappointment?

What to do instead

Here’s what to do instead: Do NOT put your projects on hold.

Instead, scale back.

Your ideas and goals are important. (If you don’t believe that, who will?)

And anything that’s important is worth your commitment and continuity.

Lots of us take an all-or-nothing approach. Don’t be that person. Be the person who makes it to the finish line even if it means slow, steady and persistent.

Next week I’ll share how you can do exactly that, even if you’re up to your eyeballs with a million competing priorities.